Yaounde landslide: here is what happened in Damas

Although official sources have dfferent figures for now, sources at the site of the disaster say over 20 people have died following a landslide that occurred at Antenne Damas neighborhood in Yaounde, Centre region.

The incident occurred on the evening of Sunday November 27th, 2022.

According to witnesses, the members of the “Ngondei” meeting from the Bamileke tribe were seated for their usual meeting at a church compound around the roundabout in Damas when the unfortunate incident occured. The meeting members were on a separate side while the invitees were on another. Unfortunately, an  escarpment suddenly collapsed on the invitees killing many.

Immediately after the incident occurred, elements of the fire fighting unit as well as Gendarmes and Police elements arrived the scene for a rescue operation. Sadly, most of their efforts only led to the retrieval of bodies which had been trapped underground for a good while.

According to a security guard who works at the Yaounde III Mayor’s residence, the group in question had booked space within the Mayor’s vicinity and the tragic site had been reserved as a parking area but the plan had been changed for reasons unknown.

The Governor of the Centre region, Naseri Paul Bea who went to the site on the same day of the incident made the first official figures public:

“They were attending a meeting in this place, a very dangerous area when suddenly there was a landslide. That landslide killed 14 people and over 10 others have been taken to various hospitals. The search is still ongoing.”

He stressed on the importance for an evacuation of the area to avoid further damage:

“For now we want to tell the population that it is a rosky zone to stay and we are calling on them to liberate the area for now for the Police and Gendarmes to do their work so that by tomorrow morning we will be able to have a clear report on the situation.”
The site has been sealed and rescue operations are still ongoing. The inhabitants of the area are calling on officials fto find ways of making the area safer for people so such disasters are avoided in future.